Flickerfest

Flickerfest has travelled a fair distance since its beginnings as a local event at a Balmain High School in 1991. Now in its 21st year, the film festival has become an international platform for short films and is becoming Australia’s only Academy accredited and BAFTA recognised short film competition. This year, Flickerfest has more than 2,200 entries and is touring to 37 different venues across Australia, following the Sydney event at the Bondi Pavilion.

“There’s a huge audience for short films and people are really embracing it," says Bronwyn Kidd, who is celebrating her fifteenth year as festival director. "There’s an incredibly broad range of people who are entering, from all over the world. From Estonia to Singapore, we’ve probably had over 21 countries enter the festival this year.” 

“Short films are not restrained by things like the box office and commercial concerns,” says Kidd. “Mainstream cinema has become less of an art form and more of a commercial product. For me, short film is about art, and people who are making films and telling stories that they’re really passionate about.”

Greenflicks, now in its second year, is a section of the festival that highlights environmental topics. “Greenflicks is an international shorts competition at Flickerfest,” Kidd explains. “Global warming is the biggest concern everywhere in the world right now and it’s impacting on everyone. It’s a universal story. What we’re seeing from this programme are incredibly universal films, and so many films are coming out with these themes.

“Though it’s not all doom and gloom,” Kidd says. “There are some really great, positive stories and some really great funny stories about how people are dealing with global warming. It’s something I’m really passionate about: coming up with solutions, talking about what’s happening globally and sharing other people’s experiences, as much as their own in Australia.

Along with Greenflicks, Flickerfest 2012 sees the second year of two other sections to the festival: Flickerkids and Flickerup. “Flickerkids shorts are not made by children but are specifically for children,” Kidd explains. The highlight is expected to be the Australian premiere of The Itch of The Golden Nit, a 25-minute Aardman animation that has already screened at the Tate Modern in London.

Flickerup, on the other hand, is a competition for primary and high school students. “There’s some really great accomplished works and that’s something I always want Flickerfest to be about: supporting the next generation and discovering new talent.”